


until the rain falls

by talionprinciple (Triskai)



Category: Dishonored (Video Game)
Genre: High Chaos Corvo Attano, M/M, Mentions of that soldier from Tyvia, Post-Game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-16
Updated: 2015-07-16
Packaged: 2018-04-09 15:21:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4354067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Triskai/pseuds/talionprinciple
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Royal Protector has become someone Geoff can't quite recognize, no matter how much he would like to. But anything that lives can heal, and this is an age of new beginnings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	until the rain falls

Dunwall was starting to look like its former self again, but the same could not be said for its Royal Protector.

It was like something had pulled the man out of his skin, shaved off a few pieces, and stuffed him back in. There was a - a disconnect. A sense of doubleness, of seeing a ghost overlaid on a living body. Like watching a cicada crawl out from its shed exoskeleton. It was even worse when he was around Emily. Every time Corvo smiled at her, Geoff thought he could see straight through his skin and into the Void-black pockets of nothingness where parts of him used to be.

To call it disturbing would be an understatement.

The only time Corvo looked like he fully inhabited his body was when he had a blade in his hands. That was when he moved with confidence and a fierce and raw sort of vitality that reminded Geoff of the spotted wildcats he'd once seen in Serkonos. Still, it wasn't the same. Where Corvo had once been a whirlwind in the training yard, he was now a tornado.

So it was with some trepidation that Geoff accepted Corvo's invitation to spar.

The training yard was empty so early in the morning, and the air had that peculiar crisp quality it got just before a storm. In the thin light that managed to filter through the clouds, the Royal Protector looked even more gaunt than usual.

"Watch Captain." Stiff and formal. He had been like that for most of the voyage, too, before - before the Empress died.

At least some things hadn't changed.

"Lord Protector," Geoff returned in kind. "You're about to thrash me soundly, I believe."

That got a not-quite-smile out of him, hardly a twitch of the lips. The expression fit well with the not-quite-man Corvo had become.

"Don't discredit yourself so quickly. You've held your own against me in the past." A flick of Corvo's wrist and his sword unfolded. "Draw."

Geoff did. "Best of three?"

"Or until the rain falls," Corvo agreed, and then struck.

For a while it was silent save for the sound of metal clashing against metal. Corvo was quick and strong, but his fighting style had changed little in the past months. They had sparred occasionally to break the boredom of long voyages oversea, and Geoff knew most of Corvo's tricks - enough to not be defeated in an _embarrassingly_ short amount of time, anyhow.

It only took one slip-up to end the fight - it only ever took one, against Corvo. Geoff raised his sword just a bit too high on a strike, left himself open for a split second too long, and the Royal Protector's blade was at his throat. Cold metal pressed ever-so-lightly on his skin. He froze; barely dared to breathe.

"Yield."

Corvo's eyes were dark, so dark. A man could drown in that sort of darkness. (Geoff suspected that Corvo already had.)

"I yield," he said, trying to speak while moving as little as possible.

The blade left his throat, and Corvo backed away. The Royal Protector raised his sword into a ready position.

"Again?"

Geoff mirrored Corvo's stance. "I won't make it so easy for you this time."

"We'll see."

Metal met metal again, but this time Corvo didn't push him. Instead, the two fell into a comfortable rhythm, more dance than battle, parrying and blocking with the ease of familiarity. Corvo seemed to be thinking.

Out of respect (and maybe a touch of intimidation), Geoff let the man think at his own pace for a while. But when his arms began to tire, he pressed Corvo into a blade lock and said, "Out with it."

The Royal Protector blinked, faltered - twisted out of the way as Geoff's sword came down. "What?"

"You're thinking about something," Geoff said, pressing his advantage. "What is it?"

"Tyvia," Corvo said.

"What about it?" Geoff sidestepped a thrust, knocking Corvo's sword aside. "It’s a cold and miserable place with every animal in a five-mile radius trying to kill you."

"You met a soldier there." Corvo's left hand was curled in front of his chest, almost like he was holding something. But when he turned, there was nothing but empty space. "I heard you were... close."

_That_ made Geoff stumble, nearly tripping into Corvo's sword. "Is that what this is about?" 

"In a way."

Tyvia. The man he’d met there had been blonde and blue-eyed, and so pale that Geoff half-expected him to disappear into the snow at any given moment. They’d been assigned to a new half-Gristol half-Tyvian squad that was part of some program to “promote camaraderie between the peoples of the Empire,” but they both had known the real reason: they’d pissed off some higher-ranking officer and were being stationed somewhere conveniently far away. Still, he supposed the squad had fulfilled its function on both counts. There certainly had been a _camaraderie_ between them.

Geoff had left Tyvia many years ago, but the secret followed him home. He had killed to keep it in the past, but that was not an option this time; a serious fight with the Royal Protector would undoubtedly end with Geoff’s head rolling on the ground.

The walls around the training yard suddenly felt very close.

Geoff's next swing went wide; he left himself open, and there was nothing he could do as Corvo's blade darted toward him. For the second time that day cold metal touched the side of his throat. _Two of three_ , he thought distantly. _I've lost._

"Go on, then. Arrest me. Show the Watch how depraved their incorruptible Watch Captain is." Bitter words. He had always found it absurd (disgusting? perhaps that was a better term) how a good man could be executed for lying with another man, while the corrupt paid weekly visits to the Golden Cat and nobody batted an eyelash.

"That's not..." Corvo stepped closer, still keeping his sword on Geoff's throat. "Actually, I want to know if your - preferences - have changed."

"My--?" He shot the Royal Protector a startled look. Of all the things he’d been expecting, that had been on the bottom of the list.

"Because if they have," Corvo continued - and now the blade was lowering - "what I'm about to do next will be very foolish."

And then Corvo's lips were on his.

_Oh._

Geoff dropped his sword (muffled clatter against the dirt, normally he'd scold himself for mishandling weapons but not this time) and grabbed the front of Corvo's coat with both hands, yanking him in. Their teeth clicked together and Corvo made a small, surprised sound before tilting his head to deepen the kiss. Geoff nipped at his lips and then flicked his tongue into the man’s mouth when it opened, drawing a soft moan out of him. Corvo tasted of copper and something sweet and fruity, perhaps one of the apricot tarts Emily favored so. The combo was jarring and intriguing and very _Corvo_.

Then the Royal Protector pulled away, but only by an inch. The two were still pressed flush against each other, and Geoff could feel Corvo's breath warm against his face.

"I wasn't sure--" Corvo hesitated. "I'm not the same person I used to be."

Geoff considered the man in front of him. A broken man maybe, missing bits of himself - but right now his skin was flushed, his pupils blown wide, and he looked alive in a way he hadn't for many months. And anything living could heal, given time and care.

"I know," Geoff said, and pulled him in again.

_It’s alright._

.

Later, when the rain began to fall, they went up to Corvo's room and talked. About the people they used to be; about Tyvia; about the things they thought during that long voyage 8 months ago but never said. When Emily came to say good morning, she spotted them leaning against each other through the half-open door; Geoff laughing about something Corvo had said, Corvo smiling. A small smile, but real and genuine.

She left without a word, and spent the rest of the day telling people that the Royal Protector and the Watch Captain were away on an important mission.

It seemed like the least she could do for the man that had broken himself into pieces to keep her intact.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[podfic] until the rain falls](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7282858) by [Kess](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kess/pseuds/Kess)




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